The Lasse Soerensen phenomenon

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Gian Luca Guiglia / André Wiegoldwww.euronascar.com juillet 5, 2019

He came out of nowhere to score four wins; he never finished worse than third in six starts in the ELITE 2 Division; he won from the very back of the grid at Brands Hatch, where he climbed 49 positions in three races. 22-year-old rookie Lasse Soerensen is one of the biggest sensations of the NWES season so far.

The Dane joined the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series with Dexwet-df1 Racing from the second event in Italy and in the short span of three racing weekend he emerged as one of the most exciting new talents on the grid. After the inaugural NASCAR GP of Czech Republic at Autodrom Most, he sits fourth in the ELITE 2 points standing, 38 markers behind leader Giorgio Maggi.

"I received a lot of attention the last couple of weeks, which is always nice," said Soerensen. "And the fact that there are so many fans following NASCAR out there makes it always a pleasure to give them some good racing. I am very happy to be a part of NASCAR and Dexwet-df1 Racing in partnership with flexlease.nu."

To make them even more outstanding, Soerensen’s first three wins came by leading a total of just five laps. He grabbed the checkered flag in what was his very first NWES race at the Autodromo di Franciacorta in the penultimate lap. In Round 5 at Brands Hatch he made a phenomenal comeback from the very back of the field and won with a last lap pass, then followed-up with a bold move with two to go on Sunday to sweep the weekend.

Last weekend at Autodrom Most, after finishing second on Saturday the Aalborg-native grabbed his fourth NWES win in ELITE 2 Round 8 on Sunday by beating Giorgio Maggi and leading all the 14 laps of the race.

The spotlight on Soerensen is on, but the quiet Dane is not going to let this affect the on-track performances.

"This is not gonna take away my focus and I will never change because I get more attention," he clarified. "I am always trying to improve myself in every possible way and that is something I will keep doing even if everything can’t go much better at the moment."

Tall and robust, Soerensen doesn’t strike as the typical race car driver. So where does he come from? After racing go-karts, Soerensen cut his teeth in the French Formula 4 and won the championship in 2014, but when he grew too much not to be at a disadvantage in open-wheel cars, he moved to touring cars and found new success. He won the Danish Thundersport title in 2017 and when he climbed behind the wheel of the #66 Dexwet-df1 Racing Chevrolet Camaro, he found a perfect match for his talent.

"I think the fact that the driver has so much work to do on this car suits my driving style. Also the cars are pretty similar to something that is really working for me. This kind of racing suits me perfectly," explained the Dane.

Credits: NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Bart Dehaese

Soerensen now faces a new challenge in the ELITE 2 Division: racing on oval for the first time. On July 13-14 the European NASCAR series will return to action at Raceway Venray, in the Netherlands, for the only oval racing weekend of the season and three other rookies precede the 22-year-old Dexwet-df1 driver in the points standings: Giorgio Maggi, Vittorio Ghirelli and Advait Deodhar. Soerensen has to defeat them, if he wants to grab the Euro NASCAR title in 2019.

All qualifying sessions and races from the "Fastest half mile in Europe" will be streamed live on Fanschoice.tv, the Euro NASCAR YouTube channel and Facebook page, Motorsport.tv and a vast network of websites and social media pages from around the world.